TILBURY, ENGLAND — A massive explosion at a grain silo at Tilbury Grain Terminal on July 3 caused major damage and sent one person to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, the Daily Mirror reported.

Nearby residents in the Essex town told the Daily Mirror they heard a “huge bang” shortly before 10 a.m., which was so loud that it rattled the windows of homes.

Aislinn Ladd, 42, who lives along the Thames in Grays, said she was “feeding the baby and suddenly it was huge noise, house shook, windows vibrated. I've never experienced anything like it, scared the hell out of me.” 

The roofs of several grain silos were reportedly blown off, according to the Daily Mirror.

ADM Milling and Allied Mills each have flour mills located in the Port of Tilbury.

ADM released the following statement to World Grain: “At approximately 9.30 a.m. GMT, an explosion occurred at the Tilbury Dock Grain Terminal (TDGT), which is adjacent to ADM’s mill. For safety reasons, our operations in the facility have been suspended until the incident is brought under control by the emergency services.  We would like to clarify that our facility is not damaged and none of our colleagues have been injured.”

Messages left by World Grain with Allied Mills had not been returned at press time.

The site, which was built in 1969, is Britain’s largest terminal for the import and export of grain.

The terminal, which marked its 50^th anniversary last September, has more than 200 silos and last year completed a storage expansion, with the new flat store increasing the capacity by an extra 16,000 tonnes of both import and export wheat.

The terminal handles 2 million tonnes of grain, wheat, barley and beans annually.